Silver Clipboard

Easy Productivity Boost: the Half-hour Work Unit

Sitting down with the intention of doing three hours of work is a vain and dispiriting attempt. More often than not, you will either fail, lacking the staying power you envisioned, or be so burned out at the end that you’ll wish you hadn’t started. These negative reinforcements make you less likely to try again in the future.

The solution? When you sit down to work, never intend to do so for more than thirty minutes. Work for a thirty minute unit, then take a five minute break. Stretch your legs, get a cup of coffee, check your email, whatever. After the break either return to your work or switch tasks. (Just don’t forget to get an invisible clock to keep your break from stretching too far) Thirty minutes is a reasonable, achievable goal.

By only working thirty minutes at at time, it is easier to notice when you approach the point of diminishing returns. At the end of each thirty minute unit, you reevaluate your energy, how much you have left to do, and what other priorities are in your life.

Thirty minutes is a small, but still useful, unit of time, and it’s possible to squeeze in these slices of productivity during the day — if you start thinking in thirty minute chunks, you’ll find the space.

Work less, feel happier, and get more done.

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Header photograph by Lil Erna